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Instantly, my skepticism grew.
Hawk had held this ball for years now. I knew it—good grief, I’d had to clean up after it.
In all that time, the custodial staff had never once been included. I’d always assumed it was becausewe weren’t official employees; therefore, we didn’t do as much as his other departments.
Why was Hawk including us now? Did it have something to do with the recent robbery accusations he’d pitted against the entire custodial staff?
Considering Stina’s warning to us earlier, he’d made it clear we were on rocky ground.
My thoughts flicked back to my time with him on the elevator. I was sure he’d seen right through me. I’d stuffed my employee badge into my purse as quickly as possible…
But he’d seen it.
He thought I worked for him.
Was that why he’d sent this now, so close to Christmas Eve?
Brandy and Chloe gaped at me. “A ball?” Brandy said. “You know you’re bringing me as your single guest, right?”
I lowered my phone and stared at the piles of fabric and the utter disarray in my apartment. “You say that like I’m going.”
Chloe jutted her head forward. “Uh, whywouldn’tyou?”
Even if I went—which I wasn’t going to—I wouldn’t bring Brandy along. We’d been friends for a few years now, and I loved her company in smaller settings. But Brandy was an extrovert who insisted I be one, too.
It would be disarming enough at the ball around Hawk. I didn’t need Brandy there trying to drag me onto the dance floor.
Adelie understood thatabout me. That was something that made her so great to be around. Addie allowed people to be themselves without pressure.
I tapped my phone against my jaw. If I were to bring anyone, it would be her.
Not that I was going.
“It seems a little condescending, don’t you think?” I said. “They’ve never invited any of us before. Look at the date. The ball is in two days.”
“So?” Chloe raised an eyebrow at me.
“So it’s like they’ve only just now realized we’re a part of the corporation, too. Sure, custodial isn’t the most glamorous thing to do, but it’s a job, and even Hawk said this morning how?—”
Brandy cut me off. She faced me fully this time, holding the half-sewn pillowcase on her lap.
“Wait. Youmethim?” She and Chloe exchanged a look. “You call him Hawk now?”
I grimaced. I’d filled Chloe in on my trip to Montana but had left Hawk out of it completely. There hadn’t been any reason to tell them anything about him.
“Yeah, we met at the wedding, and then today, after getting the fabric from Samantha, I ended up getting stuck in an elevator with him.”
Never mind that I’d been texting with him on and off for two months in between.
Both machines stopped whirring. Chloe and Brandy’s shocked gazes stabbed into me.
“You got stuck in an elevator with your boss?” Chloe said. “Is it just me, or does that sound completely romantic?”
She sounded too much like Adelie for my taste.
“Please tell me you took the chance to swoon into his arms,” Brandy said, and the two of them broke into giggles.
The pit of my stomach coiled. I’d fantasized about that very thing all through lunch, and even now, while watching the needle on my machine zigzag up and down.
